The Birthday Rules;

Critical Conversations to Have with Your Children (Ages 6-16)

Written By; Jeff Wald with Dr. Rachel Marsh

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Written by an ivy league psychiatrist and a successful start up founder, The Birthday Rules  applies proven business and  human resources strategies to the world of parenting and offers a structure to help with one of the most important tasks parents have—creating a safe environment to communicate and demonstrate unconditional love.

“A child’s birthday is an excellent opportunity to have important conversations,”  says author Rachel Marsh, a professor of psychiatry at Columbia University.

The Birthday Rules provides a fun and flexible framework of an annual review process combined with a structure for increasing permissions, responsibilities and conversations.

WHY YOU NEED THIS BOOK:

“HR processes are designed to deal with fast-paced environments, nothing is more fast-paced than raising children! This book is amazing.” 

-Rebecca Sachs (VP of HR at Sirius XM Radio)

“By distilling down the research on child development in one place, Jeff and Dr. Marsh have helped parents with a guidepost of what age different permission and conversation could occur.”

-Anne Marie Albano (PHD, Director, Columbia University Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Dr. Rachel Marsh PhD is an associate professor of Medical Psychology in the Division of Child Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center. She is the mother of three: Milo, Lyla, and Ruby. Dr. Marsh speaks worldwide and has published papers on brain function and development.

Jeff Wald is a serial entrepreneur having directly raised three companies, and, as an investor and advisor, helped raise about 100 more. Jeff is the proud uncle to three nephews and three nieces. In addition, Jeff is a renowned speaker and startups and growing companies. He has a BS and MS from Cornell University and an MBA from Harvard.

Review:

Jeff and Rachel have and combined some great information for parents like you and me in this little but important book. At the beginning of each age you review and discuss what has happen over the past year then you will discuss the coming years responsibilities and permissions.

I hope that you will find this book informative and useful in raising and communicating your adolescence. In this book you will find a wide array of topics as the child develops.

The book starts at age 6 and goes to age 16 and discusses topics such as:

Age 6

1. Eye Contact

2. Manners

3. Privacy Rules

4. Feelings

5. Table Manners

6. Allowance Rules

7. Take Care of Your Body

Age 7

1. More Responsibility Around the House

2. Help Other People

3. Patience

4. Safety

5. Set a Good Example

6. Do Not Put yourself or Others Down

7. Unsupervised Video Games and TV Rules

8. Swear Rules

Age 8

1. Opinions

2. Homework Rules

3. Friendship

4. Personal Hygiene Rules

5. Device Rules

6. Unsupervised Internet Access Rules

7. Community Service

8. Supervised Account Rules

Age 9

1. Sex

2. Influence of Media

3. Peer Pressure

4. Consequences

5. Extracurricular Activities Rules

6. Goals

7. Judgment

Age 10

1. Rules

2. Ask for Help with School Work

3. Family Time

4. Home Alone

5. Supervised Social Media Rules

6. Middle School 

7. Bullying

8. Unsupervised Texting Rules

Age 11

1. Friendship

2. Sexual Activity

3. Independent Thinking

4. Decision Making

5. Device Time Rules

6. Supervised Mobile Phone Rules

7. Drugs and Alcohol

Age 12

1. Stress

2. Feelings

3. Self-Expression

4. Bullying

5. Confidence

6. Smoking

7. Unsupervised Social Media Rules

Age 13

1. Peer Pressure

2. Media Influence

3. Cyberbullying

4. Dating

5. Privacy

6. Family Time

7. Bank Account Rules

8. Curfew Rules

Age 14

1. Checking In Rules

2. Safe Sex

3. Reputation 

4. Unsupervised Mobile Device Rules

5. Friendship

6. Dating Rules

7. Balanced Diet

8. Alcohol

Age 15

1. Household

2. Respect for Elders

3. Drugs and Alcohol

4. Abuse

5. Depression and Suicide

6. Conflict Resolution 

7. Credit Card Rules

8. Body Image

9. Part-Time job Rules

Age 16

1. Career

2. College

3. Family time

4. Sleep

5. Stress

6. Saving and Investing Rules

7. Political Rules

8. Drug Abuse

9. Community Service Rules

In reading over this book I think that parents who find it difficult to talk to their adolescence will find it helpful to start those complex topics that no one likes to talk about. We as parents need to have these pertinent conversations early and then again when the child becomes a teen.

I have 3 teenagers myself and I am planning on going back over this book with them. My wife and I missed some of these discussions with them. In addition I have a 5 year old who already needs to have some of these conversations.

So if you are interested in purchasing this book to give to a parent click here to get your gift today. Currently you can purchase this book on Amazon for 10.55 hard back version or through Kindle for 5.99. To find out more just visit Amazon click on the book and you can read a small excerpt of the first few chapters.

Make those difficult topics seem like a breeze buy the book today. Happy Parenting!